Lafayette Band’s First Concert of the Season Had a Martial Air

Instead of a writhing mosh pit, there was a solemn color guard. Instead of flickering lighters, audience members flourished miniature flags. And the hit songs they hummed along to topped the charts a long time ago.

But the Lafayette Band’s Fourth Annual Armed Forces Salute drew an appreciative and interactive crowd to the auditorium Saturday evening. The 45-member concert band  under longtime conductor Joseph R. Pelosi played a mixture of traditional military and patriotic music – including a rousing version of “When Johnny Comes March Home” – and popular tunes from wartime eras throughout U.S. history.

Stephen Foster, Glenn Miller, World War II standards like “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You” and an evocative medley from “South Pacific” had the audience singing along. While the band took a break, The Dixiecats set toes to tapping with brassy New Orleans jazz favorites like Basin Street Blues.

Periodically, Master of Ceremonies Edward K. Greenan, a retired Navy captain, involved the audience by inviting veterans and their family members to stand as various cohorts were recognized – all the branches of the armed forces, one by one, including the Seabees, and later those who had served during various wars, beginning with World War II and including representatives from the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The color guard also brought military history up to date. Participants ranged from the Artillery Company of Newport  in colonial garb and the Korean War Veterans Association, through present members of the Rhode Island Army and Air National Guard, U. S. Navy, U.S Marine Corps and U.S. Coast Guard, to possible future defenders in the U.S. Naval Sea Cadets of Rhode Island.

A retired Air Force Sergeant, Michael Jackson, capped the military theme with a touching performance of “Taps.”

The 129-year-old community band is sponsored by Centreville Bank  and the North
Kingstown Arts Council. If you missed the free Saturday concert, you can catch the Lafayette Band in a patriotic mood again at the North Kingstown Memorial Day Parade May 30.